Interviews: A Crash Republic

In this new occassion we have had the opportunity to interview the Pop Punk band A Crash Republic from USA. Check out the interview and this band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1.Where did you get the idea for the band name?

Nick: This one is kind of funny and makes no sense. Andrew and I first started the band in 2008 and wanted to name ourselves after an Avenged Sevenfold song called “Critical Acclaim.” I talked about how that would also be sick because the acronym for “A Critical Acclaim” is A.C.R. I was a confused child with no sense of logic at the time apparently. This would also set the stage for the relationship between Andrew and I for the next ten years. Either way we fell in love with the acronym “A.C.R.” and decided to find words to fit the acronym. After about 40-50 nonsensical ones we finally settled on “A Crash Republic” because of how it sounded.

Andrew: Yeah what he said.

Steve: Wow I didn’t know that!

2. Have you always been a punk band or has your style shifted over the years? 

Nick: The one thing Andrew and I had in common when we met was that we were both musicians and that we were both obsessed with Green Day’s American Idiot. I started writing pop punk songs early, which we played. We also got into metal pretty early on, Andrew specifically. We brought on different members and ACR became more of a side project while we played with others as a metalcore band, a hardcore band, and even an easycore band. I never really stopped being ABOUT punk/pop punk though, so I quickly picked back up on ACR becoming my priority project in 2011/2012 when I started writing the songs that are appearing on the first EP.

Andrew: Like Nick said, we’ve played a wide variety of music in the past. However, ACR was always our pop punk project.

Steve: I am the new guy in the band, and haven’t seen the old versions of the life ACR has lived up to this point. I have definitely shifted the style of the band a bit to a degree, because I am from Venus, but I try to keep things pointed towards the artistic vision of the project.

3. There's a strong "Boston" sound to your music, has the city itself had any influence in your writing?

Nick: A lot of people have said that they get the “irish vibe” and that we sound like the Dropkick Murphys when they listen to “Last September.” When I wrote the song I meant for it to be an anthem, and a lot of that style of irish-punk definitely has that quality to it that I definitely think could be attributed to Boston’s music scene and sound. Another HUGE influence for me was Blood For Blood from Charlestown, despite the fact that they are a hardcore band, I drew a lot of inspiration from their sound and message.

Andrew: That’s the most indirect way of saying we sound like Dropkick Murphys I’ve heard yet! But seriously, I have no idea what the “Boston” sound actually is. I guess it means aggressive? I don’t know.

Steve: There are some seriously deadly musicians in the Boston area. Whatever it is you are doing, you have to be on point. Boston’s influence on me has been the feeling of “you never know who is in that crowd, so really REALLY gotta bring it.”

4. Each band member's favourite band?

Nick: Say Anything

Andrew: Green Day

Steve: Meshuggah

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs? 

Nick: To me, the songs have always been inspired by an internal struggle that I must find a way to fit into words that resemble tightly knit poetry paired with addicting music. The POINT in writing the music is the get the message across in such a way that sticks. Oftentimes that means writing the catchiest thing possible with lyrics that really make you think. The songs are inspired by struggles that I fit into the context of a concept or story based on things I have experienced as a person with internal and external struggles.

Steve: I don’t believe music is even “yours”. Artists somehow “tap into” things that exist beforehand in the morphogenetic field. It is for this reason that the world as a whole needs to hear the music in your head to benefit the whole of humanity. One song or sculpture or pyramid at a time.

7. What venue would you most like to play? 

Nick: The palladium? The middle east? I honestly want to hit all the classic Boston/Massachusetts spots. Would also love to hit up Long Island and play places like Amityville Music Hall.

Andrew: I’m going to aim high and say something like Madison Square Garden, the TD Garden, the bigger the better!

8. What band would you like to tour with the most? 

Nick: Capstan

Andrew: For this band it would be Green Day for sure.

9. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that? 

Andrew: I definitely have! One of the things that helped me through it was recognizing I didn’t have a choice if I wanted to be a performer. Another experience that helped was having my father “force” me to performing with his cover band since I was 13. That sort of crushed any fears I’ve had of sucking in front of people.

Steve: Simply get up on that stage, and will everything to sound beautiful by Hearing beauty. think that everything is beautiful. That has seemed to work for me. Of course there’s no real one way, it provides for me a “zen” place to be in while performing in front of people.

10. What bands have inspired you the most?

Nick: Say Anything has definitely inspired my cathartic style of lyricism. Not a band, but Eminem inspired me to rhyme entire sentences together, sometimes syllable for syllable. Green Day and My Chemical Romance have inspired my existential trains of thought when it comes to writing with purpose or with a concept or story in mind.

Andrew: This is a consistently growing list of bands for me. A short list would be Green Day, Avenged Sevenfold, Periphery, Between the Buried and Me, Lady Gaga (not a band but whatever), and Panic! At the Disco. I could go on for paragraphs.

Steve: I really came into my own as a music-person when I discovered artists like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, etc. I went down the rabbit hole when I started listening to Jazz, music from the middle-east, Armenia, certain styles of traditional Indian music, and Balkan/gipsy and flamenco styles.

11. What's the story behind "Last September"?

Steve: Last September to me, is an inaugural christening of our character's naïveté as he rejects society, consequence, health, and all things good and proper. I view this as a character unwittingly taking the first steps of a deeply profound and contemporarily resonant journey.

Nick: Definitely what Steve said! But also this song is our mission statement, our “American Idiot.” I believe part of its goal is to paint a picture of self-awareness paired with alienation, and rebellion while also conveying a message rooted in unity through counterculture.September is a month for us with a lot of history behind it both good and bad. Although we’ve been better off before, those “ghosts” that changed our lives for better or worse in September keep knocking to remind us of what we’ve been through and to not simply fade away but to share our story and what we’ve learned, hoping someone else can get something through that. Those ghosts remind us to persevere even if we are not currently in the best place because of what we’ve overcome and our desire to convey strength through message and meaning.

12. Any plans for a full album?

Steve: There is certainly an overwhelming amount of music in “the vault” keep your eyes peeled for more!

Andrew: We have 2 more EP’s after this, a full album, and we are writing more as time goes on. There is no shortage of material for the next few albums.

Nick: Homewreckers is going to be an EP trilogy for which Homewreckers: Sweet Apathy is the first installment. After which we have an album planned.

13. Something to add?

Andrew: Nick and I produce music as well, hit up @titletownsounds on Instagram to see what we are up to and have us make your next release!

Nick: Shoutout to The Record Co in Boston! A nonprofit recording studio in which we were allowed the freedom to engineer and produce all of our own records. Taking on a personal project in terms of engineering, producing, and mixing has been an experience we will never forget. We've bled a lot for this project but particularly in terms of this. There are a lot of things we've learned and a lot of things that I believe we will do differently next time. We are looking forward to improving our techniques with every release!